Mike Tindall has revealed the late Queen's moving words when she approved the repatriation flight of her coffin, prior to her death earlier this month.

She passed away at Balmoral in Scotland on 8 September, meaning her coffin had to be flown back to London, and former rugby ace Mike, 43, who is married to the Queen's granddaughter Zara Tindall, 41, revealed that the original choice of plane for the job was scrapped, in favour of something "more dignified".

Although he couldn't verify the story, saying it was told to him by an "old army friend", Mike said: "It wasn't the original plane picked and they had to change it and they went for this big old plane to make it more dignified."

He claimed that, upon the Queen learning that the intended plane would be a larger RAF aircraft which had previously repatriated the bodies of British soldiers, she said: “If it’s good enough for my boys, it’s good enough for me.”

He added: "And that in itself just sort of sums it up."

Mike made the comments on his podcast The Good, The Bad & The Rugby, where he also spoke about the royal family coming together for the Queen's funeral, which took place on 19 September.

Describing the last few weeks of mourning, the dad of three said: "It's been sad, emotional but happy."

Asked to comment on the Queen's death and her funeral, he replied: "In some ways amazing, in other ways to see the family come so close together – overnight.

"You never predict it, obviously (with) a 96-year-old lady, you know at some point it's going to happen but you're never ready for when it does."

He added: "I'm not a direct family member in terms of blood but watching what my wife Zara had to go through, obviously she loved the Queen beyond everything else."

He also spoke of his "regret" at not asking the Queen more things, putting it down to nerves on being in her presence, despite being with Zara since 2004 and married to her since 2011.

He said: “But I also have loads of regrets, and loads of regrets about not asking her so many more things. Having nervousness when you have that lucky seat of being sat next to her.”

Mike wore his MBE insignia alongside his Diamond and Platinum Jubilee medals, during the funeral and other events as were the official rules, however, he received some criticism.

Addressing the controversy, he said: “I did get a lot of unnecessary (comments), you don’t have to shout at me on social media, by the way, you can just ask, and if you just ask I’ll probably just reply to you."

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